Investment companies looking at Australian ag

UBS Global Asset Management, a U.S. farmland management company, is joining with Bydand Global Agriculture to establish a farmland investment vehicle focused on Australian and New Zealand farmland.

Word is that investors will be offered either directly owned and operated Australian farmland or directly owned farmland operated by Australian farmers. Spokespersons said the initial investment, worth $200 million, will be focused on the Australian sheep, meat, and grain sectors but will expand and diversify with increasingly available capital, according to the Wall Street Journal. The goal set is to be managing several billion dollars in agricultural holdings.

The Wall Street Journal also noted that several other investment operations have committed to buying or are looking at buying Australian farmland, including Swedish pension funds AP–funden, Michigan Municipal Employees’ Retirement System, TIAA-CREF, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Aquila Capital.